Efficiency report generator

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for generating efficiency reports, which in one embodiment among many, can be broadly summarized by a representative method of associating a call-center supervisor with a call center, obtaining a network statistic for the call center, categorizing the network statistic into one of a group of multiple categories, and providing a pictorial representation of the group of multiple categories. Another embodiment can be described as an efficiency report generator that has logic configured to associate a call-center supervisor with a call center, logic configured to obtain a network statistic for the call center, logic configured to categorize the network statistic into one of a group of multiple categories; and logic configured to provide a pictorial representation of the group of multiple categories.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is one of seven related co-pending U.S. utility patentapplications, which are all filed on the same day as the presentapplication. The other six patent applications, which are eachincorporated in their entireties by reference herein, are listed byattorney docket number and title as the following:

-   -   190250-1640—“Generation of Automated Recommended Parameter        Changes Based on Force Management System (FMS) Data Analysis”;    -   190250-1650—“Dynamic Force Management System”;    -   190250-1660—“Agent Scheduler Incorporating Agent Profiles”;    -   190250-1670—“Method and System for Predicting Network Usage in a        Network Having Re-occurring Usage Variations”;    -   190250-1680—“Resource Assignment in a Distributed Environment”;        and    -   190250-1740—“Force Management Automatic Call Distribution and        Resource Allocation Control System”.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to management of workforcesand, more particularly, is related to management of workforces in callcenters.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

A modern telephony system includes a switch that routes incoming callsto agents in workforces and a control center that receives informationfrom the switch. The control center includes a call-center supervisorwho is trained to review the information from the switch and trained tomonitor the call traffic at a workforce.

Among other things, the call-center supervisor is responsible for makingcertain that the workforce has a sufficient number of agents working atany given time. Generally, the call-center supervisor periodicallyreceives from the switch network statistics for a given time span. Thenetwork statistics for a given time span can include the average worktime, i.e., the average amount of time an agent takes to handle a call,average number of buffered calls, average hold/wait time, i.e., theaverage amount of time a call spends in a buffer before being answeredby an agent, etc. for that given time span. The call-center supervisoruses the network statistics for the given time span to determine thenumber of agents that are needed for a subsequent time span. What issought is a method and system for enabling the call-center supervisor toefficiently manage the workforce.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method forgenerating efficiency reports.

Briefly described, in architecture, one embodiment of the system, amongothers, is implemented as follows. An efficiency report generator thathas logic configured to associate a call-center supervisor with a callcenter, logic configured to obtain a network statistic for the callcenter, logic configured to categorize the network statistic into one ofa group of multiple categories; and logic configured to provide apictorial representation of the group of multiple categories.

One embodiment of the present disclosure can also be viewed as providingmethods for generating efficiency reports. In this regard, oneembodiment of such a method, among others, is broadly summarized by thefollowing steps: obtaining a network statistic for the call center,categorizing the network statistic into one of a group of multiplecategories, and providing a pictorial representation of the group ofmultiple categories.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art uponexamination of the following drawings and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, features, andadvantages be included within this description, be within the scope ofthe present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with referenceto the following drawings. The components in the drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephony system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of a telephony system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a database.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a daily log of the telephony system.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of accumulated statistics of the telephonysystem.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an agent profile.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a projected agent line.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating steps for creating a projected agentline.

FIGS. 9A -9C are graphical efficiency reports.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating steps for creating a graphicalefficiency report.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present disclosure is described in terms of managing resources incall centers for a telephone system. However, this description is forillustrative purposes only and is a non-limiting example of the presentdisclosure. The present disclosure can also be implemented in anyorganization, among others, having workforces that respond to variableworkloads such as, but not limited to, a group of agents receiving callsthrough an automated call distribution process including private branchexchange (PBX) and switching configuration. Thus, the present disclosureis intended to cover any network.

Any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understoodas representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include oneor more executable instructions for implementing specific logicalfunctions or steps in the process, and alternate implementations areincluded within the scope of preferred embodiments in which functionsmay be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, includingsubstantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on thefunctionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonablyskilled in the art of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, a telephone system 10 having a central office 12, aplurality of remote offices 14, and a control center 16, are allconnected to a telephone network 18. A subscriber uses a telephone 20,which is connected to the central office 12 via a communication link 22,to access services of the telephone system.

The central office 12 includes a switch (not shown) that routes thesubscriber's call to the telephone network 18, which includes generaltelephony circuitry such as central offices, trunks, end-offices, etc.,known to those skilled in the art.

Typically, the remote offices are call centers from which agents make orreceive calls, which handle, among other things, incoming subscriberservice calls such as, but not limited to, “Directory Assistance Type”calls and “Billing Type Calls”. Responsive to the subscriber's callbeing a service call, the central office 12 routes the call through thenetwork to one of the remote offices 24, via a communication link 24,where an agent handles the call. The communication links 22 and 24 canbe any communication link: wired, wireless, optical fibers, etc., knownto those skilled in the art.

Typically, the telephone system 10 must meet performance requirementsestablished by a regulatory body, and the control center 16 isresponsible for, among other things, providing the necessary humanresource, e.g., agents, to the remote offices 14 to meet the performancerequirements. The control center 16 includes supervisory personnel,call-center supervisors, (not shown) and a computer system 26 having aforce management system (FMS) 28 included therein. Generally, a computernetwork 44 (see FIG. 2) connects the central office 12, remote centers14, and the control center 16 such that the FMS 28 and other computerservices are available to authorized personnel at any of the locations.

In one embodiment, among others, schedulers employ the FMS 28 togenerate, among other things, agent lines, which are explained in detailhereinbelow, and tours (work shifts) for agents. The schedulers may belocated in the central office or in the control center 16.

Referring to FIG. 2, the central office 12 includes a switch 30, whichreceives telephone calls from subscribers via communication link 22 and,among other things, routes the calls to workforces 32 and superworkforce 34. For the purposes of this disclosure, a workforce iscomprised of a set of agents assigned to handle a specific type of call.For example, workforce 32(1) is a directory assistance (DA) workforce;and workforce 32(2) (not shown) is a billing workforce of the telephonesystem 10. Other workforces include workforces that call out instead ofreceiving incoming calls, an example of which is a telemarketingworkforce. Each workforce 32 maybe distributed throughout multipleremote offices 14.

A super workforce 34 is comprised of agents assigned to handle multipletypes of calls. For example, agents of the super workforce 34 might beassigned to handle both directory assistance calls and other types ofincoming calls for subscribers speaking a language other than English.The super workforce 34 may also be distributed through multiple remoteoffices 14. For the purposes of this disclosure, a super-workforce shallbe treated as if it were a “workforce.”

In one preferred embodiment, the switch 30 is an automated computerizedsystem such as, but not limited to, Northern Telecom DMS 200, NorthernTelecom Meridian, Rockwell ISS-3000, and Lucent 5E into which agents login. To log-in, each agent provides a user-name and a password, which insome embodiments may be optional. The switch 30 is in communication witha database 36 via a communication link 38. The database 36 includesagent profiles 54 (see FIG. 6), and each agent profile 54 provides,among other things, information regarding the training and efficiency ofthe agent. When an agent logs onto the switch 30, the switch 30 uses theagent profile 54 for that agent to determine, among other things, theagent's workforce. The switch 30 also determines, during the log-inprocedure, from which console/terminal (not shown) the agent is working.When an agent is logged into the switch 30, the switch 30 monitors calltraffic to the agent and whether the agent is logged into the switch 30and provides this system information, among other information to thedatabase 36. Generally, the agent logs out of the switch 30 for breaksand training so that the switch 30 knows that the agent is not availableto handle calls. The log-out times are also included in the system data.

Among other things, for certain types of calls the switch 30 attempts tohandle incoming calls automatically. If the switch 30 cannot handle theincoming calls automatically, the switch 30 routes the incoming calls toan agent in an appropriate workforce 32. The switch 30 includes aplurality of buffers 40 and an automated call-handling module (ACHM) 42.The ACHM 42 includes in some embodiments, tone and voice recognitionlogic for interfacing with subscribers and, if possible, providing thenecessary services. For example, when the ACHM 42 receives a “DirectoryAssistance Type” call, the ACHM 42 delivers a series of questions to thecaller such as: “what state?”, “what city?”, “what listing?”. The ACHM42 checks the database 36, and attempts to determine the requestedinformation. The database 36 includes subscriber information such asname and telephone numbers of subscribers, addresses, etc. If the ACHM42 cannot totally handle the incoming call, the call is placed in theappropriate buffer 40. In one preferred embodiment, the switch 30associates information in the database 36 with information provided bythe caller. When the call is taken out of the buffer 40 and provided toan agent, the switch 30 then provides the associated information to theagent via the computer network 44. Typically, associated informationfacilitates the agent in handling the call efficiently. For example, inone embodiment, the associated information includes informationcollected from the customer by the ACHM 42, i.e. city and listing, andtypically, the associated information is then played to the agentwithout some of the initial silence before, between and after thecustomer verbal input.

Each one of the buffers 40 is associated with one of the workforces 32,and typically, multiple buffers, sometimes referred to as queues, areassociated with a single workforce. For example, the buffers 40(1)-40(3)are associated with the directory assistance workforce 32(1). Thus, whenthe switch 30 receives an incoming directory assistance call that theACHM 32 cannot handle the switch 30 places the incoming call into one ofthe buffers 40(1)-40(3). Typically, the directory assistance agentshandle “Directory Assistance Type” calls based upon geographic regionsbecause the directory assistance agents can normally handle calls fasterfor regions with which they are familiar. So, in one embodiment, thebuffers 40(1)-40(3) are associated with different geographical regions,so that all of the “Directory Assistance Type” calls from a particularregion are sent into the same buffer, and directory assistance agentswho are familiar with that region handle those calls.

In addition, the buffers for a workforce 32 can be prioritized. In oneembodiment, high priority calls are put into one buffer and lowerpriority calls are placed in a different buffer. Typically, switch 30handles the calls for a workforce 32 on a quasi first-in-first-outbasis. For example, in one embodiment, the higher priority calls areprioritized by adding a “fictitious wait time” (FWT) to them, and thenthe switch 30 takes calls out of the buffer based upon a “pseudo-waittime” (PWT), which is the sum of the FWT and the real wait time (RWT),where RWT is the actual amount of time that the call has been in thebuffer. For example, the FWT for buffer 40(1) is zero seconds, and theFWT for buffer 40(2) is two seconds. Thus, the RWT and PWT for calls inbuffer 40(1) are the same, whereas, the PWT is two seconds ahead of theAWT for calls in buffer 40(2). The PWT for call 1 in buffer 40(2) is 3.2seconds while its AWT is only 1.2 seconds. Based upon the PWT for callsin buffers 40(1) and 40(2), the switch 30 will take calls “1” and “2”from buffer 40(2) before taking call “1” from buffer 40(1).

The switch 30 provides system data to the force management system 28 anddatabase 36. Various switch configurations typically use either scans ortime stamps to determine how long calls wait for service. For thisdiscussion, switch 30 receives counts and directs calls to the buffersand scans the buffers 40 every 10 seconds or so the buffers 40 every 10seconds or so and determines how long each call has been in one of thebuffers, i.e., the RWT for each of the calls. The switch 30 may thendetermine an average RWT for the calls in each buffer and provide aninstantaneous buffer count and average RWT for each buffer, or theswitch 30 may average the results from several scans together. However,for a given time span, the system data includes, but is not limited to,the number of calls received by the switch over the given time-span, thenumber of calls handled by the ACHM 38 over the given time-span, theaverage number of calls in each buffer 40 over the given time-span, andthe average RWT for calls in each buffer over the given time-span.Typically, the system data is reported from the switch to the FMS 28 anddatabase 36 every 10 seconds or so. However, in alternative embodiments,the switch 30 may report system data more frequently or less frequently.

The switch also monitors agents in the workforces 32 and the superworkforce 34. Before discussing the system data that is related to theagents in more detail, it is helpful to define some terms. For thepurposes of this disclosure, a “tour” is defined as the time-spans thatan agent is scheduled to work, and a “switch-tour” is defined as thetime-spans that an agent is scheduled to be logged into the switch 30.On any given day, an agent's tour and switch-tour can differ due toscheduled training or other reasons. “Compliance” is defined as thepercentage of an agent's switch-tour that the agent is logged into theswitch. “Personal-occupancy” is defined as the percentage of an agent'sswitch-tour that the agent spends handling calls. The system datareported by the switch 30 includes personal-occupancy and compliance foreach of the agents logged into the switch 30. The system data alsoincludes personal average work time (AWT) for each of the agents, whereaverage work time is the average amount of time that an agent spendshandling a call. Because the switch 30 monitors, among other things, whois logged-in, when they logged-in and logged-out, how many calls theagents received, how long the calls lasted, etc., the system datareported by the switch 30 can include other quantities not describedhereinabove. The average-work-time, occupancy, compliance, etc. can becalculated on a per-agent (personal) basis and/or calculated for theentire workforce.

Referring to FIG. 3, the FMS 28 includes a memory 46 having astatistical analysis/forecasting module 48, a call-statistics database50, agent-profiles 52, and an efficiency report generator 118. The callstatistics database 50 includes accumulated statistics 54 and daily logs56. The accumulated statistics 54 and daily logs 56 are broken down intoworkforces 32. Among other things, the statistical analysis/forecastingmodule 48 processes data in the call-statistics database 50 to generate,among other things, the accumulated statistics.

FIG. 4 illustrates one exemplary daily log 56 for workforce 32(5), andFIG. 5 illustrates exemplary accumulated statistics 54 for workforce32(5). The quantities calculated and tabulated in the daily log 56 andthe accumulated statistics 54 are generated by the switch 30 and FMS 28.

Referring to FIG. 4, exemplary daily log 56 includes the date of the logand quantities such as, but not limited to, daily call volume, dailywork volume, daily average work time (AWT), daily average time-to-answer(ATA) and daily occupancy (OCC). The daily call volume is simply thenumber of calls received by workforce 32(5) during the day associatedwith the daily log, which in this example is Aug. 21, 2003.

The daily AWT is the average amount of time that an agent in workforce32(5) spends working a call on that day. The daily ATA is the averageamount of time a call spends in a buffer on that day. The dailyoccupancy (OCC) is a measure of the amount of time that the agents inworkforce 32(5) work incoming calls on that day. The daily OCC is theaverage of the personal-occupancy for the agents in the workforce onthat day.

The daily work volume is the amount of time in CCS (Centum Call Seconds)or XCS, a measurement of time where 1XCS equals 10 seconds where theproduct of the daily call volume and AWT divided by 100. Generally, thedifferent workforces handle calls of different complexity, and the timeto handle a call is generally proportional to the complexity of thecall. For example, calls to the billing workforce will require more timeto handle than calls to the directory assistance workforce, andtherefore, the AWT for the billing workforce is greater than the AWT forthe directory assistance workforce. The work volume provides a way tocompare the workforces 32 regardless of the type of calls that thedifferent workforces handle.

Typically, the daily log 56 is kept in the statistical database 50 for apredetermined period of time such as six (6) months. The daily logs 56are used for, among other things, spotting trends, scheduling agents,and refining workforce lines, as will be explained hereinbelow. In oneembodiment, the daily log might be broken down into segments of timesuch as, but not limited to, morning, evening, and night, and thestatistics for each segment of time are then calculated.

Referring to FIG. 5, the accumulated statistics 54 include, among otherthings, averages of daily statistics. Thus, in one embodiment, theaccumulated statistics 54 are averages of statistics that are found inthe daily log that have been accumulated over a period of years.Typically, the accumulated statistics are based upon what is known as anaverage business day (ABD). Thus, Saturdays and Sundays, and holidays,are not included in the accumulated ABD statistics 54. However, callstatistics are also accumulated for non-ABD days such as Saturdays andSundays, and those accumulated call statistics are used in projectingcall volume. Typically, accumulated statistics 54 are used by the forcemanagement system 28 for, among other things, scheduling agents for aworkforce 32 and/or super workforce.

The accumulated statistics can be averaged over a long period of timesuch as the entire time span over which the telephone system 10 hasrecords of daily logs or shorter time-spans such as the last six years,or last six months, etc. One advantage of averaging over a long periodis that the daily fluctuations are “washed” out of the average, but adisadvantage is that trends may also be lost. For example, assume thatthe ABD work volume for eight of the last ten years had remained at anapproximate constant (X), in year nine the ABD work volume was 1.125Xand in year ten it was 1.5X. In that case, the average ABD work volumeof the last ten years is then 1.0625X, which obscures the rate of growthover the last two years.

In one preferred embodiment, the statistical analysis/forecasting module48 fits the work volume data to a predetermined parameterized function,and then uses the parameterized function to extrapolate work volumes fora subsequent week. Those skilled in the art are familiar withalgorithms, such as, but not limited to, least-square-fit for fittingdata and all such algorithms are intended to be within the scope of thedisclosure. Furthermore, as those skilled in the art will recognize, byfitting the data to a parametric function, derivatives including firstorder and higher order derivatives of the function can be taken to helpextrapolate the data. In one embodiment, the statisticalanalysis/forecasting module 48 also includes logic to applyprobabilistic algorithms such as, but not limited to, Erlang C to, amongother things, forecast work volume and operator lines, which will beexplained in detail hereinbelow.

An exemplary agent profile 52 is illustrated in FIG. 6 and the agentprofile includes, an agent identifier 58, a workforce identifier 60, anoffice identifier 62, language skills identifiers 64, and work skillsidentifier 66. The agent associated with the exemplary agent profile 52currently works in remote office 5 in workforce 32(16). The agentassociated with the exemplary agent profile 52(A) is bilingual (Englishand Spanish) and has been trained in both directory assistance andbilling. The agent profile 52 includes skill ratings for each area thatthe agent has been trained, such as a directory assistance rating 68 anda billing rating 70. Each rating includes, among other things,statistics related to the agent's efficiency. The agent has an averagework time (AWT) of 2.5 seconds for directory assistance and 5.5 secondsfor billing. The skill ratings 68 and 70 also include the agent's errorrate, tour compliance, switch-tour compliance, and years of experience.Switch-tour compliance is defined as the percentage of time that theagent is “logged into” the switch 30 per the workable amount of time pertour. Tour compliance is the probability that the agent will actuallyreport to work for a tour that they are scheduled to work. Otherquantities can also be included in the agent profile 52. In analternative embodiment, quantities can be broken down into timesegments. For example, AWT can be broken down into the first half of atour, and a second half of a tour, or for every fifteen minutes, orother time intervals. In one embodiment, the agent profile for a newagent, or an agent who is new to a workforce, is given an agent profilethat has default values, among other things, for the skill ratings.After the agent has been trained and in the position for a set period oftime, the default values are replaced by calculated values related tothe agent's record.

Referring to FIG. 7, among other things, the FMS 28 generates an agentline 72 for a workforce 32. The agent line 72 shows the number of agentsin a workforce that are projected to be needed for every fifteen minutesof an upcoming day. For the purposes of this disclosure, eachfifteen-minute time span of the agent line 72 is a agent line segment74. For a directory assistance workforce, the agent line 72 covers a24-hour day, whereas the agent line for a billing assistance workforcemay only cover ten hours of a day such as from 8:00 a.m. through 6:00p.m. The agent line 72 is established by the FMS 28 using, among otherthings, historical information stored in the database 36.

Referring to FIG. 8, the steps 76 shown in FIG. 8 include exemplarysteps taken by the FMS 28 to generate the agent line 72 for a day in anupcoming week. Typically, the upcoming week is approximately two weeksin the future. The projected agent line 72 is forecasted approximatelytwo weeks in advance so that the agents in the workforce having theprojected agent line can be properly scheduled.

In step 78 the FMS 28 forecasts the ABD work volume for the upcomingweek. The forecasted ABD work volume is based upon historicalinformation and the database 36 such as the historical ABD work volume.Other factors may include, but are not limited to, historical trends inthe ABD work volume. For example the statistical analysis/forecastingmodule can fit the work volume data to a parameterized function and thenuses the parameterized function to forecast the work volume for theupcoming week. In one embodiment, a predetermined number of terms from aTaylor series expansion of the parameterized function is used toextrapolate the ABD work volume for the upcoming week.

In step 80, the daily work volume for each day of the week for theupcoming week is forecasted. Generally, the daily work volume followshistorical trends. For example, the daily work volume on a Sunday is 75%of the work volume for an ABD. Table 1 shows a historical daily workvolume per ABD work volume for an exemplary call center

TABLE 1 Day Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Work 0.75 1.01 1.020.99 0.97 1.01 0.90 Volume/ ABD

In step 82, the FMS 28 generates a forecasted daily call distributionfor every fifteen minutes for each day of the upcoming week. Eachforecasted daily call distribution is based at least in part uponhistorical information and database 36. Specifically, the databaseincludes historical call distributions for each day of the week.

In step 84, the FMS 28 uses adjustable parameters such as desired agentoccupancy and desired AWT to generate forecasted agent lines for eachday of the upcoming week based upon the forecasted call statistic. Inone embodiment, the FMS 28 employs the statistical analysis/forecastingmodule 48 to apply algorithms such as Erlang C to calculateprobabilities to determine agent requirements to meet a desired standardsuch as, but not limited to, average-time-to-answer to forecast theoperator line. In step 86, the FMS 28 provides the forecasted results toa scheduler.

In step 88, the scheduler approves or disapproves the forecasted agentlines. If the scheduler disapproves, then in step 90, the schedulerprovides new adjustable parameters to the FMS 28, and then the FMS 28returns to step 84. On the other hand, if the scheduler approves, thenin step 92, the FMS 28 allocates tours to the offices. For example,based upon an agent line, the FMS 28 determines that five agents need tostart their tours at 6:00 a.m., nine agents need to start their tours at7:00 a.m., and three agents need to start at 7:30 a.m. The FMS 28 thendetermines the number of tours at each starting time that should beallocated to the offices based at least in part upon the followingcriteria: the physical capabilities of each office and the number ofagents available in each office. Offices having larger physicalcapabilities (more terminals/consoles) and a large number of agents willreceive more tours than smaller offices.

In step 94, the FMS 28 matches the allocated tours to individual agents.Generally the matching of tours to agents is done at least uponseniority or other work place rules and agent preference.

In one preferred embodiment, among other things, the efficiency reportgenerator 118 of the FMS 28 provides the control center 16 withworkforce reports that call center supervisors use to manage the agentsof the workforces 32. Typically, a call center supervisor is responsiblefor managing one or more of the workforces 32. A call center supervisorwill use the workforce reports in conjunction with other informationsuch as the projected agent line to manage his or her workforces. Theworkforce reports generally include call statistics such as work volume,call volume and AWT. Table 2 shows an exemplary workforce report.

TABLE 2 Work Number of Volume Call Volume ATA Agents Time Proj. Act.Proj. Act. Proj. Act. Proj. Act. 09:00-09:15 15 15 60 60 2.3 2.1 9 909:15-09:30 14 15 58 60 2.2 2.1 9 9 09:30-09:45 15 16 60 62 2.3 2.2 9 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The workforce report is broken down into fifteen minute intervals and itincludes work volume (forecasted and actual), call volume (forecastedand actual), average time to answer (forecasted and actual), and numberof agents (forecasted and actual). In one embodiment, the call centersupervisor uses the workforce report along with the projected agent lineand with past call statistics to determine whether to adjust theprojected agent line. A call center supervisor looking at Table 2 andthe agent line 72 will decide whether the number of agents scheduled forthe next agent line segment 74 is sufficient. In addition to Table 2,the call center supervisor can review daily logs to discern trends. Forexample, if the current day is a Friday, the call center supervisor willcompare the workforce reports for a given workforce with yesterday'sdaily log for the given workforce. The call controller will thendetermine how yesterday's projected agent line corresponded to theactual agent line of yesterday; how the projected work volumecorresponded to the actual work volume; and similarly, compare otherprojected and actual call statistics such as, but not limited to, callvolume, AWT, and occupancy. The call center supervisor can also comparecall statistics for Thursday's and Friday's of past weeks to discern,among other things, trends and how well projected agent lines hadcorresponded to actual agent lines.

In addition to receiving reports from the efficiency report generator118, call center supervisors also receive graphical information from theefficiency report generator 118. The call center supervisors areresponsible for managing the agent lines of their assigned workforcessuch that the workforces meet or exceed predetermined benchmarks.Typically for a workforce that receives incoming calls the predeterminedbenchmarks are for call statistics such as AWT, number of calls inbuffer, or other statistics. Among other things, the FMS 28 receivessystem data from the switch 30, and the efficiency report generator 118uses the system data to generate the workforce reports and other reportssuch as efficiency reports, which are typically provided to call centersupervisors in graphical format.

Referring to FIGS. 9A-9C, FIG. 9A illustrates a year-to-date efficiencyreport 96; FIG. 9B illustrates a month-to-date efficiency report 98; andFIG. 9C illustrates a daily efficiency report 100 for the current day.In one embodiment, the efficiency reports 96 through 100 are presentedin a pie chart format having three categories, high 102, expected 104and low 106. In other embodiments, the efficiency reports are presentedin other graphical formats such as column graphs, or bar graphs, amongothers.

The high category 102 represents the percentage of time that theworkforce exceeds a first predetermined benchmark, and the low categoryrepresents the percentage of time that the workforce fails to meet asecond predetermined benchmark. The expected category 104 represents thepercentage of time that the workforce operates within the first andsecond predetermined benchmarks.

In one preferred embodiment, the efficiency reports are generated, amongother ways, on a call center supervisor basis. Thus, the report reflectsnot only how well the workforce is performing, but also how well thecall center supervisor is managing his or her workforce.

Year-to-date, month-to-date and today's efficiency reports 102, 104 and106, respectively, and other efficiency reports, can be generated toshow the efficiency of one or more workforces managed by a single callcenter supervisor. Aggregate efficiency reports, i.e., efficiencyreports reflecting the efficiency of more than one workforce, enable acall center supervisor to check their own efficiency/managing skills.Generally, bonuses, raises, promotions, etc. for call center supervisorsare related to their efficiency/managing skills. Thus, the aggregateefficiency reports provide a simple way for the call center supervisor(and their managers) to monitor their own efficiency and progresstowards goals such as bonuses, raises, etc.

In one embodiment, each agent line segment 74 is considered amanagement-opportunity, and the call center supervisor is graded uponthe results of their management-opportunities. For example, if a callcenter supervisor manages a call center for 9 hours on a given day, thecall center supervisor has 36 management-opportunities for that day. Foreach management-opportunity that the work force fails to meet, or meets,or exceeds, its target goals, the call center supervisor is creditedwith failing to meet (low), meeting (on target), or exceeding (high)his/her target. Then by adding the management-opportunities, the numberof lows, highs and on target a percent is determined based on theworkforce monitored. If the call center supervisor is managing more thanone work force, then he/she is graded on the performance of all of thework forces that he/she is managing, and the management-opportunities ofthe different work forces are added together and divided by the totalnumber of management-opportunities. The management-opportunities fordifferent work forces can be weighted the same or different.

FIG. 10 illustrates steps performed for generating efficiency reports.In step 108, the call center supervisor logs into the FMS 28. When thecall center supervisor logs into the FMS 28, the FMS 28 associates thecall center supervisor with the workforces that the call centersupervisor manages.

In step 110, the FMS 28 receives from the switch 30 call statistics foreach of the workforces that the call center supervisor manages. In step112, the efficiency report generator 118 applies the benchmarks to thecall statistics to determine whether each call statistic is in the highcategory 102, the expected category 104, or the low category 106. Theefficiency report generator 118 can generate efficiency reports for anynumber of call statistics, and generally, each of the call statisticsfor which the efficiency report generator 118 generates a report willhave predetermined upper limit and lower limit benchmarks.

In step 114, the efficiency report generator 118 generates efficiencyreports for the call center supervisor. The efficiency report generator118 can generate efficiency reports on a predetermined basis, such asevery fifteen minutes, or other intervals such as on a daily basis, orcan generate efficiency reports upon demand. In one embodiment, the usercan input a time span such as the last half hour, the last day, week,etc. over which the efficiency report is generated. In yet anotherembodiment, the user can select to generate efficiency reports on a percall center basis, on a network statistic basis, for selected callcenters, or any combination thereof. Typically, the overall efficiencyof the call centers and the call-center supervisors are determined fromlooking at multiple criteria such as, but not limited to, average worktime, average occupancy, average time to answer, etc., and an overallefficiency report in which the various criteria weighted and combined isgenerated.

In step 116, the FMS 28 provides the efficiency reports to the callcenter supervisor.

The efficiency report generator 118, which comprises an ordered listingof executable instructions for implementing logical functions, can beembodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connectionwith an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context ofthis document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice. The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readablemedium would include the following: an electrical connection(electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette(magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-onlymemory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fiber (optical), and aportable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that thecomputer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable mediumupon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronicallycaptured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or othermedium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitablemanner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In addition,the scope of the certain embodiments of the present disclosure includesembodying the functionality of the preferred embodiments of the presentdisclosure in logic embodied in hardware or software-configured mediums.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, aremerely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for aclear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variationsand modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) ofthe disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andthe present disclosure and protected by the following claims.

1. A method of providing efficiency reports, the method comprising:associating a call-center supervisor with a call center; obtaining anetwork statistic for the call center, wherein the network statistic isrelated to usage of a network by the call center; categorizing thenetwork statistic into one of a group of multiple categories, whereinthe categorizing further includes: determining whether the numericalvalue of the network statistic is within one of a set of rangescomprising a first range of values, a second range of values, and athird range of values; associating a first category of the group ofmultiple categories with network statistic responsive to the numericalvalue of the network statistic being with in the first range of values;and providing a pictorial representation of efficiency for thecall-center supervisor using the group of multiple categories.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further including: associating the call-centersupervisor with a second call center; obtaining a second networkstatistic for the second call center, wherein the second networkstatistic is related to usage of the network by the second call center;and categorizing the second network statistic into one of the group ofmultiple categories.
 3. The method of claim 1, further including:obtaining a second network statistic for the call center, wherein thesecond network statistic is related to usage of the network by the callcenter; and categorizing the second network statistic into one of asecond group of multiple categories; combining the first group andsecond group of multiple categories into a third group of multiplecategories, wherein the third group of multiple categories is providedin pictorial representation.
 4. The method of claim 1, furtherincluding: associating the call-center supervisor with a second callcenter; obtaining a second network statistic for the first call centerand network statistics for the second call center; and categorizing thesecond network statistic into one of a second group of multiplecategories; categorizing a third network statistic for the second callcenter into one of a third group of multiple categories; combining thefirst group, second group, and third group of multiple categories into afourth group of multiple categories, wherein the fourth group ofmultiple categories is provided in pictorial representation.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the pictorial representation is a pie-chart.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pictorial representation is a bargraph.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the pictorial representation isa column graph.
 8. An efficiency report generator, the efficiency reportgenerator comprising: logic configured to associate a call-centersupervisor with a call center; logic configured to obtain a networkstatistic for the call center, wherein the network statistic is relatedto usage of a network by the call center; logic configured to categorizethe network statistic into one of a group of multiple categories,wherein the logic configured to categorize further includes: logicconfigured to determine whether the numerical value of the networkstatistic is within one of a set of ranges comprising a first range ofvalues, a second range of values, and a third range of values; logicconfigured to associate a first category of the group of multiplecategories with network statistic responsive to the numerical value ofthe network statistic being within the first range of values; and logicconfigured to provide a pictorial representation of efficiency for thecall-center supervisor using the group of multiple categories.
 9. Theefficiency report generator of claim 8, further including: logicconfigured to associate a second category of the group of multiplecategories with network statistic responsive to the numerical value ofthe network statistic being within the second range of values; and logicconfigured to associate a third category of the group of multiplecategories with network statistic responsive to the numerical value ofthe network statistic being within the third range of values.
 10. Theefficiency report generator of claim 8, further including: logicconfigured to associate the call-center supervisor with a second callcenter; logic configured to obtain a second network statistic for thesecond call center, wherein the second network statistic is related tousage of the network by the second call center; and logic configured tocategorize the second network statistic into one of the group ofmultiple categories.
 11. The efficiency report generator of claim 8,further including: logic configured to obtain a second network statisticfor the call center, wherein the second network statistic is related tousage of the network by the call center; and logic configured tocategorize the second network statistic into one of a second group ofmultiple categories; logic configured to combine the first group andsecond group of multiple categories into a third group of multiplecategories, wherein the third group of multiple categories is providedin pictorial representation.
 12. The efficiency report generator ofclaim 8, further including: logic configured to associate thecall-center supervisor with a second call center; logic configured toobtain a second network statistic for the first call center and networkstatistics for the second call center; and logic configured tocategorize the second network statistic into one of a second group ofmultiple categories; logic configured to categorize a third networkstatistic for the second call center into one of a third group ofmultiple categories; logic configured to combine the first group, secondgroup, and third group of multiple categories into a fourth group ofmultiple categories, wherein the fourth group of multiple categories isprovided in pictorial representation.
 13. The efficiency reportgenerator of claim 8, wherein the pictorial representation is apie-chart.
 14. The efficiency report generator of claim 8, wherein thepictorial representation is a bar graph.
 15. The efficiency reportgenerator of claim 8, wherein the pictorial representation is a columngraph.